NEWS

WHIBLEY BLOWS OFF THE ENDURO COBWEBS

FEBRUARY 4, 2015: It may have been quite some time since Kiwi
international Paul Whibley last tackled a national enduro, but he
showed at the weekend that he still has the skills to match it with
New Zealand's elite enduro riders.

The Yamaha rider twice won the Grand National Cross-country
Championships (GNCC) during a nine-year stint of racing in the
United States and also rode the World Enduro Championships in
Europe for three years before that, but still he was not keen to
accept any 'favourite' tag when he showed up to race the opening
round of the New Zealand Enduro Championships at Riverhead Forest,
west of Auckland, on Sunday.

The 36-year-old former Manawatu forestry worker, affectionately
dubbed "The Axeman" on the motorcycling scene, returned home from
the US at the end of last season, withdrawing from international
competition and switching his focus to the slightly-less frenetic
domestic scene in New Zealand.

But Whibley enjoyed having the opportunity to blow off the
cobwebs after a quiet time with family over Christmas.

He will now take his Yamaha YZ450F to concentrate on trying to
win the New Zealand Cross-country Championships this season, that
four-round series set top kick off next weekend in Central Hawke's
Bay, and his Riverhead Forest adventure on Sunday was merely part
of his build-up for that.

But, as with any top-class athlete, when the flag drops all
thoughts turn to twisting the throttle to the stop and beating the
other competitors.

In the end, he finished the day overall runner-up, just one
minute behind fellow Kiwi international and defending national
enduro champion Chris Birch, who lives just down the road from the
Riverhead Forest in Glen Eden.

"It had been a long time since I raced a national enduro in New
Zealand and even longer since I had raced in Riverhead," said
Whibley.

"While I didn't recognise any of the trails, but there seemed to
be more tree roots per square mile than I remembered," he
laughed.

"It was quite unsettling because I'd never know what angle the
bike would bn tipped next. But the bike worked well and I didn't
crash anywhere.

"The drizzly morning rain had dampened down the expected dust
nicely, but, in return, the hard-pack clay was pretty slick.

"I completed the first section with enough time to grab a quick
splash of gas and then into the first special test. The next
section seemed to hold a lot of slower trails and when we came into
check two there was a real scramble to get gas and into the check
point without losing time. A lot were caught out by how tight it
was on time and lost minutes.

"The trail pace was fast enough to prohibit slacking and keep
you pushing. I kind of liked it because it kept my focus, but I'm
not sure many of the intermediate riders appreciated the pace they
had to ride.

"The last loop of the day was abandoned with a horse on the
loose in the forest and posing a danger to riders.

"My times felt okay but I suspect I need to work on my special
test speed. I felt I rode pretty safely and could do with hanging
it out a little. I think I my test pace was basically my three-hour
cross-country speed. It was the pace I can ride at for three hours,
but I probably needed to push it more in the enduro special
tests.

"Overall I had a lot of fun. The bike worked great and with some
more test-specific training, I will be right in the hunt (to win a
Kiwi enduro)."

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